Looking to avoid competing with itself, Walgreens will close nearly 600 of the Rite Aid stores it is acquiring, the company announced Wednesday.With a $4.375 billion deal to acquire 1,932 Rite Aid locations set to close in the spring -- a decreased agreement after it attempted to buy all of its rival -- Walgreens will begin to shutter the stores shortly after the deal closes, Fortune reports. The closings will take around a year and a half, and will include some Walgreens locations, as well."The vast majority being closed are within one mile of another drugstore that we own going forward," Walgreens Boots Alliance co-chief operating officer Alexander Gourlay said.The stores affected by the purchase are mainly in the Northeast and Southern U.S., WBA said in a release.

Looking to avoid competing with itself, Walgreens will close nearly 600 of the Rite Aid stores it is acquiring, the company announced Wednesday.

With a $4.375 billion deal to acquire 1,932 Rite Aid locations set to close in the spring -- a decreased agreement after it attempted to buy all of its rival -- Walgreens will begin to shutter the stores shortly after the deal closes, Fortune reports. The closings will take around a year and a half, and will include some Walgreens locations, as well.

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"The vast majority being closed are within one mile of another drugstore that we own going forward," Walgreens Boots Alliance co-chief operating officer Alexander Gourlay said.

The stores affected by the purchase are mainly in the Northeast and Southern U.S., WBA said in a release.